A US woman with a rare double uterus has given birth twice in two days “ after a one in a million pregnancy and a total of 20 hours in labour.

Kelsey Hatcher, 32, delivered one daughter on Tuesday, and a second on Wednesday, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital.

Announcing the arrival of her miracle babies on social media, Ms Hatcher hailed the medics as incredible.

The girls are described as fraternal twins “ with rare separate birthdays.

Ms Hatcher said the family was now back at home and could enjoy the holidays. She had previously expected a Christmas due date.

The mother was told at age 17 she had a double uterus (uterus didelphys) “ which the UAB described as a rare congenital anomaly affecting 0.3% of women.

And the odds of becoming pregnant in both uteri “ a dicavitary pregnancy “ were even slimmer, at one in a million, according to the UAB.

Reported cases worldwide are extremely rare. In 2019, a doctor in Bangladesh told the BBC a woman had given birth to twins almost a month after delivering a premature baby in her other uterus.

Ms Hatcher had three previous, healthy pregnancies. This time, she believed herself to be pregnant in only one uterus “ until a routine ultrasound revealed there was also a baby in her second.

I gasped¦ We just could not believe it, she recalled.

She went on to document her unusual journey on Instagram. One update at 38 weeks asked: What the heck?! HOW have we made it this far?!

The UAB described her pregnancy as routine. Prof Richard Davis, who co-managed the delivery, pointed out that each baby had enjoyed extra space to grow and develop.

This was because each baby had a womb to itself, he said “ unlike in a typical twin pregnancy.

Ms Hatchers labour was induced at 39 weeks, and required double the monitoring and charting at the hospital “ as well as double the staffing.

Her obstetrician described a cheer from everyone in the room when the first baby was delivered vaginally at about 19:45 local time on 19 December.

The second came by C-section more than 10 hours later, at about 06:10 the following morning.

Prof Davis said the girls could be called fraternal twins “ a term used when each baby develops from a separate egg, each fertilised by a separate sperm.

At the end of the day, it was two babies in one belly at the same time, he said. They just had different apartments. (BBC)